How to read this panchanga
A panchanga has five parts: vara (weekday), tithi (lunar day), nakshatra (Moon's sidereal segment), yoga (sidereal Sun–Moon sum), and karana (half a tithi). Traditional daily almanacs commonly report the values prevailing at sunrise. A value at noon can be different, so this calculator displays both.
The “next change” column locates the next boundary after this date's sunrise. It is a calculated UTC instant shown in your fixed local offset. It does not by itself choose a festival observance or tell you what a regional almanac prescribes. Different regional conventions, ayanamsas, or sunrise rules can change the printed day.
What is a tithi?
A tithi advances each time the Moon gains another 12° of ecliptic longitude on the Sun. There are fifteen in the waxing half, from Shukla Pratipad through Purnima, and fifteen in the waning half, ending in Amavasya. It is an angle, not a fixed 24-hour period. The same Sun–Moon separation gives the karana by dividing it into 6° portions.
What is a nakshatra?
The sidereal zodiac is divided into 27 equal nakshatra segments of 13°20′. This tool subtracts a dated approximate Lahiri ayanamsa from the Moon's tropical longitude, then looks up the segment containing it. It uses the same offset for the Sun when calculating yoga.
Definitions and name list: India Meteorological Department, Rashtriya Panchang. Astronomical calculations: Astronomy Engine 2.1.19. The ayanamsa is this site's approximate Lahiri implementation; it is not a Swiss Ephemeris calculation.